international study

During summer 2014, the Toronto-based iSquare team and eleven international collaborators (shown below) launched a project to explore visual conceptions of information worldwide. Participants implemented the iSquare protocol to collect drawings of information from their classrooms. Altogether, the far flung team generated 541 "international iSquares" and is now conducting visual content analysis to characterize the drawings. Findings will be reported at conferences and in journals of information studies in 2016.

videos from our international collaborators

At the midway point of the project (November 2015), our international collaborators in Brazil, Finland, France, Iran/Malaysia, Russia, and Taiwan produced videos to describe their experiences. An edited, 11-minute compilation can be seen, at left. (Video editing and subtitles are by Bridgette Kelly and Stephanie Power.)

participating sites

iSQuare data collection kit

To ensure social scientific reliability (the consistency of research measures) and to facilitate the data collection process, an iSquare Data Collection Kit (shown at left) was sent to our collaborators. The Kit contained blank iSquares, an instructional script for the 15-minute drawing activity, black pens, and an addressed envelope to return the iSquares to Toronto for data analysis.

the sample (541 international iSquares)

Data collection was completed in June 2015 and the composition of the sample is shown below. The range of drawings gathered was from 18-72 with an average of 45 per site.